Dinner Ideas: Grilled Vegetarian Lasagna

Vegetarian Lasagna – Perfect For Summer

My Italian friends bristle when I say I am going to fuss with Italian classics, especially when it is the king of Italian foods – lasagna! It is like a slap in the face to their Nonna! I don’t want to disrespect Nonna and I do love lasagna. The thought of the layers of pasta with meat sauce and cheese, one on top of each other, makes my mouth water. It is a dish that is worth the effort, but in summer I protest. I don’t want to make the effort. I wouldn’t want Nonna to have to make the effort. I don’t want a ragu cooking on my stove for hours and hours when it is 90F outside. I don’t want to boil a pot of water to make the lasagna noodles. I want something lighter, something I can grill, something that has some vegetables in it.

A vegetarian lasagna is very easy to achieve and it can be reinvented in many ways. In fact, one of the ways it can be re-invented is to make a vegetarian lasagna where the vegetables even replace the long noodles! Since it is summer, the grill is a perfect place to make a vegetable lasagna. Strips of grilled zucchini make wonderful pasta replacers. So does eggplant. Another way to re-invent vegetable lasagna is to formulate a recipe that can be served cold – another way to make it summer friendly. A vegetable lasagna still calls for a cheese component. In this case, a light and herby ricotta or mascarpone cheese. These mild cheeses and grilled vegetables are meant to be together. The addition of sun dried tomatoes is a perfect way to give the lasagna the tomato impact it deserves without having to make a pot of sauce. Here is great vegetable lasagne recipe for summer!